Healthy Home
Best Homemade Cleaning Products
5 Home Cleaning Products From Your Own Kitchen

Homemade cleaning products have gained momentum in recent years. People have been looking to the past to rediscover cleansers their grandmothers used that they can incorporate into today’s cleaning routines. Homemade cleaning products that are made from ingredients you already have in your kitchen often rival those you can buy in stores. Not only can making your own home cleaning products save you money, they can help save the environment. Grab a sponge and get out these few simple ingredients:

Baking Soda
This is possibly the most basic and most useful home cleaning product for many surfaces in your home. Baking soda is mildly abrasive, yet won’t scratch most surfaces, and its natural deodorizing properties make it a perfect choice in both the kitchen and bath. Sprinkle baking soda on a damp sponge and use it to clean rings around the tub or soap scum in the sink. The paste will also remove scuffs and marks on painted or wallpapered walls. For stubborn stains in sinks or on countertops, make a paste of baking soda and water and let it sit for 15 minutes before scrubbing. If you have a dirty oven, mix ¾ cup of baking soda, ¼ cup of salt and ¼ cup of water. Spray the inside of the cold oven lightly with water and spread the paste over the interior – be careful of bare metal and don’t let the paste clog the openings. Let it sit for a few hours or overnight and then remove the paste and wipe clean. Baking soda is the main ingredient in carpet fresheners, so eliminate the cost and perfume and sprinkle the real thing on the carpet. Let it sit for a few minutes and vacuum up for a fresh smell that isn’t simply covering up the odors. A one-to-one ratio of baking soda with cider vinegar can blast drains clean. Pour the mixture down a slow-moving drain and follow with hot water. Do not do this if you have already tried commercial drain cleaner – you could cause a dangerous chemical reaction.

Vinegar
When combined with baking soda as mentioned above, white vinegar can keep drains running smoothly, but it also makes a great spray cleaner. It is acidic, so it dissolves soap scum and grease. It won’t stain porous surfaces, and although the smell may remind you of coloring Easter eggs, once the spray has dried, the smell will disappear. Mix one cup of water with one cup of vinegar in a spray bottle and use it as a gentle cleaner for lightly soiled surfaces such as counters and cabinets – you don’t need to rinse, just let it dry. If you have more difficult stains to deal with, make it with very warm water and let it sit on the stain before scrubbing. This mixture is comparable to many store-bought all-purpose sprays, although for truly stubborn stains, you may need to try bleach or even a commercial product.

Use straight vinegar to scrub the toilet and add one cup to the laundry rinse cycle instead of fabric softener. It is not only cheaper than commercial laundry products, but it is perfect for those with sensitive skin. Straight vinegar on a damp, soft cloth should be able to clean marks and smears on all of those high-end stainless-steel appliances in your kitchen. One half cup of white vinegar mixed into one gallon of hot water will clean all of your washable floor surfaces.

Lemon
Lemons are natural, and of course smell great. If you are lucky enough to have a tree in your yard, then they are cheap, too. Take a quartered lemon and grind it in the garbage disposal to clean and deodorize it and make the whole kitchen smell fresh. If you have rust stains in your sink or bathroom, sprinkle the stain with salt and squeeze a lemon over the salt. Let it sit for several hours and then scrub it clean. Make furniture polish with 1 cup of oil and ½ cup of lemon juice. Many recipes call for olive oil, but regular mineral oil may be safer to use, as it won’t turn rancid like some vegetable oils can. Grout that has mold can be cleaned by squeezing lemon juice on it, and then scrubbing after letting it sit for 30 minutes.

Ammonia
Ammonia is versatile and inexpensive. It makes a great homemade cleaning product for windows, chrome, mirrors and tile when combined with rubbing alcohol and water. Make a spray with one cup of rubbing alcohol, one cup of water and one tablespoon of clear ammonia. If you are using it to clean windows, make sure they are not in direct sunlight, or the heat will cause streaks no matter how quickly you wipe. A good oven cleaner can be made with a simple bowl of straight ammonia set in a dirty oven with the door closed. Let it stand overnight and you should be able to wipe most of the grunge away. If there are any lingering problems, you can use steel wool to scrub the interior.

Bleach
Many of the most popular mold and mildew products on store shelves are nothing more than diluted bleach. Make your own by combining ¾ cup of bleach with one gallon of water. You can store this large quantity and refill a spray bottle whenever it runs low. This is great for mold and mildew on tile and grout in the bathroom and kitchen. Spray a generous amount on problem areas and let it sit for a while. Most stains shouldn’t need much scrubbing – the bleach can do the job on most surfaces. Be careful around fabrics, as bleach can remove color from cottons and other natural fabrics. Never combine bleach and ammonia – this can release chloramine gas that can cause respiratory problems and even death.

When you are choosing cleaning products for the home, think about what is going down the drain as you are putting it on your counter. Many commercial cleaning products are not only expensive, but they are not great for the environment. Homemade cleaning products tend to be more natural and better for those with sensitive skin or respiratory problems. Many of these products will take a little more elbow grease as you scrub the stains away – they may not work as easily or as quickly as their store-bought counterparts – but on the whole, they do a great job for a fraction of the cost. Make sure you label all spray bottles and containers for your homemade cleaning products. You don’t want a family member grabbing a spray bottle thinking it is water, when really it in an ammonia-based window cleaner. If you are unsure about a product on a particular surface, test it on an inconspicuous area first. As with all cleaning products, even though they are made from household products, make sure you keep them out of the reach of children.